merit
Americannoun
-
merits
plural
-
claim to respect and praise; excellence; worth.
-
something that deserves or justifies a reward or commendation; a commendable quality, act, etc..
The book's only merit is its sincerity.
-
merits, the inherent rights and wrongs of a matter, as a lawsuit, unobscured by procedural details, technicalities, personal feelings, etc..
The case will be decided on its merits alone.
-
Often merits. the state or fact of deserving; desert.
to treat people according to their merits.
-
Roman Catholic Church. worthiness of spiritual reward, acquired by righteous acts made under the influence of grace.
-
Obsolete. something that is deserved, whether good or bad.
verb (used with object)
-
merits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
merited,
past participle, past
-
meriting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
merits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
merited,
past participle, past
-
meriting
present participle
adjective
noun
-
worth or superior quality; excellence
work of great merit
-
(often plural) a deserving or commendable quality or act
judge him on his merits
-
Christianity spiritual credit granted or received for good works
-
the fact or state of deserving; desert
-
an obsolete word for reward
verb
Synonym Usage
See desert 3.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
self-meritnoun
-
overmeritverb
-
premeritverb (used with object)
-
half-meritedadjective
-
meritedadjective
-
meritlessadjective
-
unmeritedadjective
-
well-meritedadjective
-
meritedlyadverb
-
unmeritedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
meritsimple
-
meritssimple
-
have meritedperfect
-
has meritedperfect
-
am meritingprogressive
-
are meritingprogressive
-
is meritingprogressive
-
have been meritingperfect progressive
-
has been meritingperfect progressive
Past
-
meritedsimple
-
had meritedperfect
-
was meritingprogressive
-
were meritingprogressive
-
had been meritingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of merit
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Latin meritum “act worthy of praise (or blame),” noun use of neuter of meritus, past participle of merēre “to earn”
Explanation
Merit means "worthiness or excellence." If you receive a certificate of merit in school, you are being recognized for doing a good job. As a verb, merit means "deserve." Your certificate might merit a prominent place on your bulletin board! You will often hear the phrases "merit-based promotion" and "merit-based pay," which come up when employees are pushing against a system in which time on the job — and not job performance — determines when workers are promoted and how much they are paid. Using the word merit suggests impartiality and objectivity — such as when you swear off a prejudiced approach to something and vow to "judge it on its merits."
Vocabulary lists containing merit
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Ungifted
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If the performance evaluation is conducted honestly and based on merit, she said, the commission has nothing to fear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
“Waymo reviews all received citations and may engage with the court to address and resolve them, including contesting cases on their merit if we believe they were issued erroneously,” a company spokesman said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
“From a technical perspective, both arguments have merit, which in our view makes the next few weeks of price action critical.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Under the old deal, the top two from the Asian Tour's order of merit gained promotion to LIV for its 2026 season.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Since there was only one person who could possibly merit the mantle of America’s Samson and Solomon, Jefferson’s customary sense of discretion allowed him to make his point without mentioning the name.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
In response, a Lilly spokesperson said: “Rather than compete on the merits of its products, Novo is asking a court to stop Lilly from communicating the results of that trial.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín scheduled a March 2 trial to decide the merits of an antitrust challenge brought by 12 state attorneys general, led by California Atty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
I am not here to debate the merits of Hong’s assertion, mostly because I don’t really possess the hoity-toity intellectual hardware to do so.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
The judge later wrote that the states’ presentation “at least demonstrates that serious questions going to the merits remain, weighing in favor of preliminary injunctive relief.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Together we discussed and gravely considered the relative merits of side compression straps, spindrift collars, crampon patches, load transfer differentials, air-flow channels, webbing loops, and something called the occipital cutout ratio.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
As a long-term shareholder in both companies, Norges Bank Investment Management said it understood the rationale for a combination and the proposal merited consideration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The referee used the video assistant referee to review the play and determined it merited a red card.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
In the early days, spreads are often wider than merited, and volatility levels are unusually elevated.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Dujon Sterling's deflected volley had Rangers in front and their overall performance merited such a lead.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
“If it were a sceptre,” Franklin remarked, “he has merited it and would become it.”
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
The book’s characters relate their stories in discrete sections that peel back time, revealing shocking secrets and meriting re-evaluation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026
"They are accurate enough at this point to start meriting some consideration," he said.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2023
The crux of the case before the Stuttgart court is whether Mercedes-Benz knowingly deceived customers by controlling the purification of exhaust gas, thus meriting claims for damages.
From Reuters ● Jul. 12, 2022
The coronavirus can mutate rapidly, potentially upending the public health landscape and meriting a different response.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2022
The expectation of reproach made her hesitate whether to obey this order; but a desire not to have the air of meriting it, by the defiance of a refusal, led her again to the dressing-room.
From The Wanderer (Volume 3 of 5) or, Female Difficulties by Burney, Fanny
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
